Beth Bader, author of The Cleaner Plate Club: Raising Healthy Eaters One Meal at a Time joins me to talk about her upbringing in rural Missouri. Describing herself as "one of the first of the latchkey generation" Beth's story of transitioing after her parent's divorce and moving to a farm at age 10 was truly a transition between the burgeoning canned/convenience food life and a life where everything was raised or grown locally or on the farm where her family lived. Later, on her own journey into motherhood she became even more concerned with the source and quality of what she was feeding her children and how to handle the challenges of encouraging kids to try new foods. Listen in to hear Beth tell us her story of growing up and share tips and advice for getting kids to try new foods and expand their palates!

I finally watched War Horse last night, well kinda. I have to say, while the cinematography was amazing, i found it difficult to watch the slaughter of young men and fine horses. War is truly a detestable thing. The futility. The loss. I so wanted to stay until the end, well-knowing there was a "happy" ending. But was it? Self interest, war, killing, death. Are those happy themes? The bond between animal and man was clearly shown but reduced to a mere indulgence when war became the goal. The softer, loving side side of humans was bulldozed by the aggressive, hateful side.

I don't know why this hit me so hard. Maybe that was Speilberg's objective. I am personally avoiding the newspaper and netwrok news these days as I am sick of sensationalized bad news! If we all focused on the good, the beauty and the miraculous, we would all be at peace with oursleves and therefore with everyone else.

So as I watch my three horses enjoying themselves in the pasture, eating grass, drinking spring water, and being horses, wild and free, I feel happy. We don't put them in stalls, we allow them to be in nature as they would be naturally. They know us and come running when we go down to their pasture, they want affection and of course, treats! They are not afraid. They are my Peace Horses. And I am grateful.

Hope springs eternal and oh, so happy for those first green vegetables of spring - asparagus, watercress and artichokes. While not all are grown here in Massachusetts, they are the spring veggies that you can find in abundance in the grocery store. Over the last few days, I have enjoyed making watercress soup,asparagus polonaise and baby artichokes.

I hope you enjoy these and please share your concoctions and versions!

Listen in to Part 2 of Food Memory Lane with AnneMarie DeFreest as she illustrates the importance of paprika to her favorite Savory Hungarian recipes - Goulash and Chicken Paprikash and talks about the importance of knowing what kind of paprika(smoked, sweet, hot and more) and where it came from would go into different Hungarian recipes. She also tells us about her favorite Hungarian sweets – Kifli and Kalacs - whose recipes, techniques, and variations she learned as a child from her Aunt Betty.

My best friend, AnneMarie DeFreest, joins me in Stockbridge for Part 1 of her 2 part show. While AnneMarie's most vivid food memories are passed to her from her father Jack Simko and his Hungarian heritage, the pleasure and importance of gathering at the table with cloth napkins and everyone in their specific seat, has left its own important set of memories and practices for her. As she and her siblings grew up and her father took over the cooking from her mother AnneMarie was able to experience again the smells and tastes she remembers of her Grandfather's cooking of recipes like Kifli and Kalacs and expose her own children to these recipes which had been so important to her upbringing. Listen in to hear her stories of growing up and savoring her paternal Hungarian food heritage in Part 1 and to Part 2 for more about the recipes she savors.